Financial institutions around the world have realized that they can improve their efficiency, decrease risk, reduce costs, and better satisfy the needs of their shareholders and the companies they work for, improving their environmental performance.

The Project’s purpose is to improve the Latin American financial sector’s competitiveness through better environmental management, environmental and social risk reduction, and by designing innovative financial products.

The Ecobanking Project is a joint initiative of the INCAE’s Centro Latinoamericano para la Competitividad y el Desarrollo Sostenible - CLACDS, Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung GMBH - InWent (Germany), the United Nations Environmental Programme and its Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and the AVINA Group, which supported financially the creation and development of the project during its first 3 years.

The Ecobanking Project was established to assist the Latin American financial sector in creating value for its customer and the region, through better environmental management, analysis, and performance.

The Ecobanking Project seeks to:

• Improve the Latin American financial sector’s understanding of the positive relationship between their organization’s environmental and financial performance.

• Encourage the Latin American financial sector to use international “best practices” – practices that have been proven to create value for financial institutions and their customers around the world.

The Ecobanking Project’s four main objectives are:

• Evaluate the current status of the Latin American financial sector’s environmental and social practices.

• Train in best practices jointly with leading international banks and other Ecobanking Project partners.

• Research, update, and disclose “best practices” in the international financial sector in the areas of eco-efficiency, environmental and social risk management for lending and investing, socially responsible investments, and innovative financial products.

• Provide advice to the Latin American financial sector about the best way to include environmental and social guidelines in their operations.